The Reader Paved the Way for Alt-Weeklies. What About its Future?

The future of the Chicago Reader is in question. After years of money troubles and ownership changes, the 50-year-old paper is set to become a nonprofit to gain financial stability. But the transition has been delayed because of a dispute between the Reader’s current owners over its leadership. The Reader has been an essential part of Chicago’s media landscape — at one point, its classifieds were so coveted that people would steal copies from the printing press before they were distributed — and longtime journalist Mark Jacob argues the Reader’s owners should come to an agreement to save the storied paper. Jacob has written about the dispute and the Reader’s 50th anniversary, and he talks with host Jacoby Cochran about why the Reader is so important in Chicago.

Guest: Mark Jacob — Freelance writer and editor

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